British Columbians are currently in the midst of a tsunami of consultations. The Cohen Commission just finished a lengthy process to review the status of salmon populations, the Joint Review Panel is consulting about the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, and the Ministry of Transportation is “inviting the public and communities” to consult about ferry rates and schedules. These consultations will hear from several hundred or even thousands of citizens. This all sounds great, evidence of a just and caring society where everyone’s opinion really matters and each of us has a voice in what is done.

But scratch the shiny surface of these consultation efforts and the picture is troubling. Host agencies often cite the large number of citizens who participated or the length of the consultation process, as if quantity and duration were the two major markers of success. Yet hearing from hundreds or thousands of interested citizens typically has the unfortunate consequence that most people have only 10 minutes or so to speak and — importantly — no time to discuss, debate or learn. Yet the issues under consideration are complex; each person who speaks adds another perspective on what matters most, a new interpretation of the facts, another way to think about important uncertainties.

Making a sound choice requires careful and open deliberation. Yet we typically leave this deliberation in the hands of one or two or three “people of authority” who somehow are expected to sort, sift, and weigh all the information received, disappear for a few months, and emerge with a recommendation.

This process might be OK for court cases involving judges who are hearing from experts or witnesses on questions of fact. Yet a moment’s reflection suggests that there must be a better way to proceed when the goal is meaningful consultation with citizens on questions involving both values and facts, questions that may shape the future of our communities or the nation. If it sounds radical to suggest that everyday citizens can be expected to participate in important nation-shaping decisions, then we are guilty as charged. But as consultants who have helped to lead dozens of groups of citizens through complex policy and planning processes that many might have thought too complex for the lay public, we know there’s a better and more inclusive alternative.

In Canada, many decisions of regional or national significance are driven by corporate proposals for the use or development of public resources. Corporations have an important role to play, but they aren’t typically charged with nurturing the public interest. That’s why there are government oversight and review processes. But throughout Canada today, the public has largely lost confidence in these review processes.

King Solomon and Justice Berger (both unusually thorough and fair-minded people) were able to make such top-down processes work well, but, in today’s world, trust in authorities is thin.

What we need is a new standard of practice for consultations. This standard would focus on four fundamental elements: (a) what are the ends that matter, in very specific terms; (b) what are the realistic alternatives, and how do they compare in terms of their ability to achieve these ends; (c) what are the key sources of uncertainty and what risks are acceptable; and (d) what balance is considered to be appropriate across key trade-offs (jobs vs. fish, or energy security vs. environmental risk). Unless a representative group of citizens is meaningfully involved in these key decision steps and can examine different alternatives and how they perform, they are unlikely to be – and shouldn’t be – satisfied that they truly have been consulted or that the final decision is really in their interest. Of course, such a process requires a commitment from participants too. It takes a commitment of time and emotional energy to be open to learning about key issues, to address difficult and sometimes morally charged trade-offs, and to look for solutions that will address the needs of our neighbours as well as ourselves.

We all know there’s a better way. Corporations and governments have a responsibility to conduct consultation processes in an open and meaningful way that encourages thoughtful deliberation and respects citizen input. Citizens have a responsibility to engage, to face difficult trade-offs, and to look for solutions. To make this happen we need to let citizens into the deliberative process and give them an opportunity to provide direct input to those aspects of the decision process that really matter.

Robin Gregory and Lee Failing, co-authors of the book Structured Decision Making, are Vancouver-based researchers and consultants.

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Canada needs a new standard of practice for consultations

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